Manhunt for hundreds of Indonesian prison escapees

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Armed Indonesian police secure the entrance of a burning prison compound in Medan city on July 11, 2013.

Story highlights

More than 200 inmates escaped from Indonesian prison following deadly riot

At least five people dead, including two guards and three prisoners

Angry prisoners burned part of prison, held guards hostage after water cut off

Police searching for potentially hundreds of inmates still on loose

Indonesian police are searching for potentially hundreds of escaped inmates following a deadly prison riot in Medan, the capital of the province of North Sumatra. At least five people died, including two guards and three prisoners.

More than 200 inmates, some of whom were jailed on terrorism charges, broke free from the maximum-security facility Thursday when the "water supply was cut off because of a power outage," said Ronny Sompie, the National Police Spokesman Brigadier General.

Angry prisoners, unable to bathe or use the bathroom, burned the door to the prison offices, stole guns and took guards hostage.

"The situation is under control and the fire at the prison has been extinguished," said Sompie.

At least 55 prisoners have been recaptured. Some 800 police and military officials are now searching the surrounding area for escapees.

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"It's unclear how many more escaped prisoners are out there. We're still waiting for the data from prison officials," Sompie said.

The prison, Tanjung Gusta Correctional Institute, houses 2,600 inmates, according to a press statement from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The facility's maximum capacity is 1,054. Overcrowded prisons are typical in the country.

Indonesia has made major progress in fighting once-rampant terrorism in the country.

Since the first Bali bombings in 2002, authorities have arrested, convicted and jailed hundreds of terrorists. One of the terror networks behind past major attacks in Indonesia, Jemaah Islamiyah, has largely been weakened because of the arrests or deaths of its leaders.

Last month, Indonesian police foiled a plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta, according to local media reports. The planned attack was reportedly in retribution for violence against Muslim Rohingya by majority Buddhists in Myanmar.